Friends?
by Cerebella Kennor
Summary: Vampires hadn't been scary for a long time, but that changed when we moved to Scotland. My only friend is a vampire, a vampire hunter wants to kill me, somehow I've got to save Rudolph's family, and I'm constantly scared. I'd like to leave, but I can't.


Obviously I did not come up with "The Little Vampire", so I disclaim any rights of ownership. The characters, some of the dialogue, and the majority of the plot are based on the film created by Alliance Atlantis. The shonen-ai is provided by yours truly.

My reason for writing this: When I went to read the fanfiction based on this movie, I found that the majority of stories were not worth reading. It saddened me. Of course, it's up to the reader to decide if I'm being too critical and cocky, thinking that my story could possible be any better. This happens to be my first story published on this website - in fact, one of the first stories that I have completed that has nothing to do with class deadlines - but I will not ask for any reviews or whatnot. I can't remember who, but a famous man once said that if you can't find the story you wanted to read, then write it yourself. I'm giving that a try. Forgive any errors in grammar, spelling or syntax; I've gone over it quite a few times, but hardly anyone can catch every mistake made by themselves, plus I'm not a grammar nazi.

Sorry for posting this again, but it appears that my line-breaks did not show up in the publication, so I'm trying again. Hopefully they're there now and you won't suffer any confusion from random scene changes.

Rough translation from Latin to English: Ab ovo in toto nil desperandum sine die = From the egg, in whole, never despair without day.

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

They stood on the cliffs, watching the comet come in contact with the moon. A man, presumably the leader, held an amulet above his head and spoke, "Ab ovo in toto nil desperandum sine die."

A beam of light, bright red, connected with the amulet. "Vampires!" someone screamed from within the darkness. Hunters, with torches, crosses, and stakes, screamed and charged. The amulet flew out of the man's hands and toward the sea. Another, with white-blond hair, jumped after it, flying into the crashing waves and towards my bed.

I woke, feeling the castle vibrate from the storm. Gasping for breath and staring into the darkness with wide eyes, I searched for a light. My lamp was not yet unpacked; it lay in a box somewhere in the corner of my new room. Darkness. No sound but for the howling of the wind, the shaking of the glass. I jumped up and ran for my bedroom door, reaching the switch and turning the light on. Blessed light. I let out the breath that I had unconsciously been holding and glanced around my room. Nothing. There was nobody there, no blond man, no Elizabethan-dressed vampires, no vampire hunters. "It was just a dream," I whispered to myself.

A dream. Right. The same dream that I'd had every night since we moved to this wretched place. We'd been here a fortnight already, and each and every one of those nights has been haunted by vampires. Vampires weren't even supposed to be scary anymore, they were sensual, dangerous – sparkly, even – but scary? The fear that these night creatures caused was supposed to be non-existent. There were scarier things than vampires. I covered my mouth, breathing slowly through my nose. If I could convince myself of this – something that I'd believed wholly before we moved to Godforsaken Scotland – then the dreams would either go away or cease to affect me. There was a screech by the window. I turned sharply toward the sound.

"Tony?"

I jumped and spun toward the door, where my mother poked her head in. "Yeah?" I asked her, letting my hands fall awkwardly, pretending that nothing was unusual.

"Did you have another bad dream?" she asked gently.

I shrugged, "It's only vampires. They never scared me before."

"I'll bet it's our house that's doing it. We've never lived anywhere with so much history," she explained. "The house, the country, they're full of—"

"History," I said. "Why did we have to get _this_ place anyway? Weren't there newer places – _houses_?"

My mum shook her head, sighing. "Tony," she said, and I knew she was going to tell me what she always did, "your father got a great deal. Besides, don't you think it's cool to live in a castle?"

I replied, just as I always did, "He got a great deal because nobody else wants this place. They know it's creepy, that there are _better, newer_ places to live. Castles are only good to look at; they're no good for living. Just think about how much heating this place up is going to cost – all the _wood_ we're going to need for the _fireplaces_."

She sighed, knowing that there was no way she could convince me otherwise. "We bought floor heaters, they should help. Just go back to bed," she told me. "Your first day of school's tomorrow, and you don't want to be tired for that."

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

I'd been ready to enter my second year of high school before we moved, and I'd been excited to greet the academic year with my friends. But now I was alone, in a foreign country where everyone had a funny accent and spoke some weird mixture of English and Gaelic. I just hoped that I'd be able to understand my teachers and do well in school.

The school had uniforms – not just any old uniform, either, you could choose between wearing pants – or trousers, as they seems to call them here – or kilts. My mum thought it'd be great if I got a kilt. I convinced her otherwise, thankfully, and so I dressed in navy dress pants – _trousers_ – a button-up, _collared_ shirt, and a blazer. "I look like a tool," I mumbled as I passed a mirror on the way into the kitchen.

"You look cute," my mum told me.

"Great, maybe I'll even find myself a boyfriend," I snarled.

"Tony," my dad warned.

"Sorry," I muttered.

We ate in relative silence. My dad pored over notes for his work, my mum was looking through local magazines, trying to find the best places to find groceries, and I was brooding. I fully admit that.

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

School sucked.

I got there, tried to mind my own business, blend in with the crowd, but somehow I'd stood out. Somehow I'd become the favourite plaything of the two most popular boys in school – boys who happened to be the grandsons of my father's boss. That's just great, I thought.

"Where d'yeh think yer goin', mate?" Flint asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulder.

"Yeh didna think we were done with yeh, did yeh?" Nigel smirked.

"Oh, look, is that your grandpa?" I asked, pointing.

The morons looked. While they did that, I booked it to the parking lot where I knew my mum would be waiting. "We weren't through with yeh, yeh lit'le creep!" they called after me.

I didn't reply. I got into the car and slammed the door behind me, telling my mum to drive. "Did you have a bad day?" she asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," I said, staring glumly out the window. My arms were probably bruised from the amount of lockers I'd been shoved into, my knee was scraped from being tripped, my books were dirty from being dumped out of my bag, my head hurt, and I didn't make a single friend. Not that I'd been expecting to make friends on the first day, but I'd thought that I could at least find someone to talk to. No chance of that happening now, I knew. The McAshton boys would see to it that I never made a single friend while I lived here in Scotland. This sucked.

When we got back to the stupid castle, I trudged up to my room and closed the door behind me before I slumped onto my bed. That, at least, was familiar. It still smelled like home unlike everything else. Even my clothes were starting to smell different. Probably from whatever my mum used to wash our clothes now. She used something stupid and Scottish no doubt. They were all about smelling green or whatever. Sigh.

"Dinner's ready!"

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

The next night my parents were invited to go to a party at the McAshton's estate. They said they'd be back before midnight – I'll bet that they wished they could leave a lot earlier than that – and that I should be in bed before they got home. I waved goodbye to them, locked the door, grabbed enough food and drink to last me the night – there was no way I would come downstairs when no one else was home – and I locked myself in my room.

I hated this place. I hated even more how scared it made me feel. In order to ignore the fear that bubbled within me, I did my homework, read, played Gameboy Colour, and by the time I was bored of everything I could possibly do, it was only eight. It was also pitch black outside. This sucked. I went over to my desk and began doodling pictures of the amulet and bare sketches of the vampire gathering. I wasn't actually any good at art, so I got frustrated with that pretty quick and turned toward the words the leader spoke. "Ab ovo in toto nil desperandum sine die," I enunciated. Maybe if I understood Latin the sentence would mean something to me.

There was a screech and the battering of wings. My window slammed against the wall. I slowly picked up a sharp pair of scissors that lay on my desk and crept forward, afraid to look. Something flew past me and into the fireplace. There was a flash of light.

I slowly approached the dark fireplace where a large shadow slumped against the wall. "What clan are you from, brother?" it asked. "Are the lights gone?"

It spoke. I could have sworn that whatever it was that flew into my room was smaller than a person. Now whatever it was spoke like a human. This was not right. I swallowed heavily, tightening my hold on the scissors. I closed in on the fireplace and glanced into the darkness, spotting glowing red eyes and gleaming fangs. I gasped and swore that my heart stopped beating for a brief moment.

"You are not a brother," it hissed.

"Well I'm not a sister," tumbled out of my mouth.

"You're a human. You're full of blood!" it growled.

"I'm going to keep it that way, dude," I told it.

The thing pounced, so I dodged and tried to run for the door, planning on locking myself into another room in the house – preferably one without windows. It beat me to it though, getting there in the blink of an eye and stuck to the door like a spider, snarling hungrily at me. It fell a moment later and groaned from its place on the floor about being too weak. The scissors slipped out of my hands, falling uselessly to the floor. I crouched down in front of the thing, staring with narrowed eyes.

"I need to go," it spoke softly.

"But you can hardly walk—"

"Who needs to walk, when I can fly!" it exclaimed, pretending to be cool as it ran for the balcony, shoving the doors open and jumping. It lingered in the air for a moment – and I really thought it would fly – before losing balance (can you lose balance in the air?) and crashing to the ground with a thump.

I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. I was going to help. Dear God, why was I going to help? I unlocked my door, grabbed the house keys and a jacket, slid my feet into my shoes, and headed out of the castle, locking the door behind me. I reached the spot under my balcony and found the thing lying on its stomach, groaning in pain. That's what the bastard got for flying into my room, I thought. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"Can you tell me," it enquired hoarsely, "where I can get a cow?"

"If you want milk—" I said stupidly.

"Not milk, a cow," he repeated weakly.

"Uh, well, I think there's a farm down the road, about a mile from here," I told it. "I guess I can take you there."

A light flashed on us for a second and the thing groaned quietly, trying to crawl into the bushes while murmuring, "Rookery."

I didn't know what that meant, but I told it I'd be back and went to fetch a wagon. I carefully picked it up, grimacing when its cold, clammy hands touched me, and placed it as gently as possible into the wagon. The thing didn't really fit, because the wagon was made for kids under five and it seemed to be somewhere around my age. Whatever, I thought. I dragged it down the road, shivering, sweating, and taking longer than I would have liked.

When we finally got there, I had to help it up, slinging its arm around my shoulder and holding it around the waist. We entered the barn, and I led him toward the closest cow. It (finally) stood on its own and stared deeply into the cow's eyes, lifting its fingers and drawing them back and forth between the animal's eyes, and speaking darkly, "Your eyes are getting heavy. You are falling into a deep sleep."

I heard the cow's breathing quieten and watched as its eyes closed. Mine were open wide in disbelief. This was not happening. It really wasn't. My dreams must finally be changing, I mused. My ears were assaulted with the sound of the thing slurping the cow's blood. "Ugh, I'll be outside," I groaned in disgust.

Fresh air greeted me and I decided that I'd done all that I could and there was really no reason for me to be hanging around any longer. I went back onto the road, found the wagon, and began heading back toward the castle where my family lived. Never house, never home, I thought, just castle.

Light. It started out with one, enough to make me squint, and then another, and another until I held my arm before my closed eyes, blinded. I couldn't see, but I could hear the vehicle approaching, the gravel cracking under its heavy wheels. I stumbled back, trying to find the fence that surrounded the farmer's land, but before my hand could touch anything, and before the vehicle hit me (but not before I let out a terrified scream), arms wrapped around my waist and I was suddenly weightless. "Close your eyes," I heard it tell me.

I wanted to tell it that they were already closed, but I kept my mouth and eyes shut, not wanting to anger it. Weight found me again, and my feet touched down on an inflated surface. It wasn't earth, and it wasn't gravel. "You can open your eyes now," it told me. "Enjoying the view?"

I opened them and nearly screamed. We were on a blimp, a fucking blimp, floating hundreds of feet in the air. No way. "Whoa" I gasped, turning toward the thing that sat cross-legged directly beside me (pressing its cold body against mine) despite the fact that the blimp was large enough to host maybe twenty people comfortably. "Thanks for saving me back there dude, that truck was going to splatter me. It probably totalled the wagon."

"You keep calling me dude. My name's Rudolph," it said.

"Dude is just a way to address people you're on friendly terms with," I explained.

"Friends?" Rudolph asked, confused.

"Yeah, you know, like I saved your life and you saved mine," I clarified weakly.

"Friends," he said, the word lingering on his tongue. He then turned to me and asked, "And what do I call you, friend?"

"Uh... Tony. Tony Thompson."

"It's very nice to meet you, Tony," Rudolph said politely.

"Yeah, uh, you too" I said awkwardly.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Sure," I replied, "my best friend's a vampire."

"Friend," he said again, then looked at me with fond red eyes. "I haven't had a friend since I really was fifteen. What do friends do together?"

"Well, you can play games, talk, I used to go fishing and golfing with my old friends," I listed.

"Old friends?" he wondered.

"I just moved here a couple of weeks ago," I said quietly, "and my friends back home don't really care for long-distant relationships, so... I haven't talked to them since."

"Why would one do such a thing? Surely a friend is meant to be honoured and cared for?" he asked, sounding hopeful.

"I guess you can have friends like that," I supposed, "but it's hard to be friends with people half way around the world when you can't see or hang out with them."

"Hang out?" he marvelled. "You mean you hang in trees like bats? I'm awfully good at that."

I laughed a bit, wondering if he actually knew anything about _now_. "That's not what that means," I told him.

"Hanging implies something entirely different? How could I have missed this?"

"No, well, it still does mean hanging like you think, but when you hang out with friends, it just means that you're spending time with them," I explained.

"We're _hanging out_ then?" he asked happily.

"Uh, yeah," I agreed. "Do you know what time it is?"

He looked at the moon, and turned back to me to say, "It's past eleven."

My eyes widened and I cursed, "Shit! My parents are going to be home soon! If they see that I'm not there, I'll be in so much trouble!"

Please take me home, I begged mentally, don't leave me up here. I'll have no way to get down. I'll starve. I'll get dehydrated. I'll fall asleep, roll over, and plummet to my death.

"Of course," he said quietly, sounding disappointed. "I'll bring you back immediately."

Did Rudolph really think we were friends now, I wondered? He grabbed my hand and went to jump off the side of the blimp. I cringed. He pulled harder on my arm, turning toward me with those red eyes of his and giving me a pleading expression. Right. I sighed and let myself be pulled off the blimp, grinding my teeth all the while. If Rudolph couldn't fly then I was done for.

Luckily he could. I even admitted (though not aloud, and definitely not to Rudolph) that it was the best experience of my life. Flying was indescribably beautiful. The wind was in my hair, tugging at my clothes and chilling me to the bone. The feeling of weightlessness engulfed me, the freedom of having nothing shackle me to the ground. The view, the Scottish countryside stretching out like a painting beneath the moonlight was enchanting. If I were an artist, I mused, I would probably die just to be able to paint this. Luckily I'm not an artist, because I rather like being alive.

Rudolph's cold hand, no longer clammy (thank God, otherwise I would probably slip and plunge to my death), held tightly onto mine. His thumb rubbed along my knuckles and I fisted my other hand, keeping my eyes on the ground or in the clouds. I could feel his eyes upon me, but I refused to meet them. "Look," I pointed, wanting to end the heavy atmosphere that had descended upon us, "it's the McAshton's place – my parents are at a party there."

After what felt like an eternity of mindless chatter about stuffy parties in my and his time, we landed on my balcony. I realized that I'd left the doors open. Hopefully nothing else crashed into my room. That wouldn't be good. Just as I closed the door behind us, car doors slammed and I panicked, jumping in bed and shoving my glasses on the side table. I closed my eyes just as Rudolph stuck himself to the ceiling and my parents opened the door to check on me. "I'm surprised he's already asleep," my dad said.

They were about to close the door when my mum paused, sniffing the air. "What's that smell?" she wondered.

My dad joined her in sniffing and spotted the open window. He walked over to close it and figured, "It probably came from outside. I notice all kinds of different smells from the farms nearby."

They exited my room, their dress shoes clicking as they walked. I heard the door shut softly and their bedroom door close behind them. Rudolph came down from the ceiling, smiling at me, and then turned to the window, where he paused.

Beep, beep, beep ,beep...

I looked at the road, watching that same truck pass by my house, lights flashing and swerving this way and that. That was the bastard that almost hit me, I realized. What a jerk. "Tony?"

I startled, turning toward Rudolph. "Yeah?" I asked him.

"Do you think that I might possibly stay the night? It is not safe for me to leave while Rookery is patrolling the streets so close by. He will see me flying," he said quietly.

I shrugged, "I guess. I don't have a coffin though."

Rudolph smiled briefly before pointing at my old toy chest, "This would be excellent."

I noticed that his lips were a pale blue. It'd been difficult to see before, because we seemed to have always been in the dark, but now I saw them clearly in the faint light of my lamp. They were strange. I wondered if they were dry, and if they were as cold as the rest of his body. "Okay," I said, opening the chest and taking everything out, shoving it all under my bed. "Let me just get this junk out."

"Junk?" he asked, picking up the Gameboy. "This is a treasure chest! I've sat in trees and watched mortals play this game. What's it called?"

"It's Nintendo, duh," I said.

"Nintendo-Duh. Can I play with this Nintendo-Duh?" he wondered, looking at the thing as if it were gold.

"It's just Nintendo," I told him. "Duh is just something you say when someone asks a dumb question."

"Duh," he stated.

"No, you have to feel it, be exasperated: duh!"

"Duh," he tried again.

"I'll teach you how to play Nintendo tomorrow," I promised, yawning.

"I keep forgetting that it is late for mortals," he admitted sheepishly. "You must sleep."

I took the thinnest pillow off of my bed, folded it, and stuffed it into the chest. Rudolph was not going to be comfortable. My limbs were aching just thinking about spending the day stuck in there. "I hope it's alright," I said uncomfortably.

Rudolph smiled at me, his hand ghosting over my forearm, "Thank you, friend."

"No problem," I said, trying not to think about how he would be awake all night while I slept. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," he replied, climbing into the chest, somehow fitting, and closing the lid.

I changed into pyjamas, brushed my teeth, and climbed into bed once more. Rudolph wouldn't dare bite me with my parents here, I convinced myself. He called me friend, too, so obviously he wasn't planning on eating me. My window and balcony were closed and locked, so nothing else would come into my room tonight. I sighed, forcing myself to stop trembling, and fell into an uneasy sleep.

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

"Hey, creep!"

I groaned, refusing to look up from the sink where I washed my hands. If I pretended they weren't there, would they go away?

"Creep, we're talkin' to yeh!"

Sighing in resignation, I turned to the twins and asked, "Yes? What do you want?"

"Nice of yeh to ask," Flint smirked, glancing at his brother. "It's a bit like an invitation."

I dried my hands quickly on some paper towels and turned toward the door, which they were blocking. "You know, class starts in five minutes."

"Five minutes is all we need," Nigel said, taking a step closer to me.

"Look, just leave me alone, alright? There's no point to any of this."

Nigel shoved me into the wall and his brother came up beside him, crossing his arms and leering. "Then maybe we need to be a lit'le more direct."

I did not like the sound of that. "Fuck you," I snarled, shoving past them and making a mad dash for the door. I didn't make it though, and Flint pushed me hard into the door, making my head smack hard into the wall. My sight blackened for a moment and my knees gave out, but with Flint pressed up against me, I didn't fall to the floor.

"This better?" he asked, "or is the stupid Yank too dim-witted to understand?"

I grimaced. My head was still spinning, but I wouldn't let this happen. I forcefully turned around and punched him in the gut. While Flint bent over wheezing, I pulled the door open and ran into the hall. "We'll get yeh fer that!" Nigel called.

He tackled me to the ground and the kids surrounding us moved out of the way, but circled around us to keep the teachers out. While they were shouting at us to fight, Flint finally got his breath back and the brothers dragged me up by the arms. Flint held my arms tightly behind my back and his brother began punching me. I struggled to get out, to get away, but with my arms restrained and my body taking hits, I couldn't. This had to be the worst day of my life.

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

"Fighting with the McAshton boys, of all people!" my mum scolded. "What's gotten into you? You never used to fight, and now you're coming home every day with new bruises!"

I sighed and took the tissues from her hands, glancing nervously at my toy box where Rudolph slept. I really hoped that he couldn't smell this, or that the sun would deter him from coming out. "I can take care of myself, mum," I said.

"Well obviously not, if you're going to act like a child, then we're going to have to treat you like one!"

"They started it!" I shouted, knowing full-well how childish that sounded. "They're bullies – what am I supposed to do, let them beat me and do nothing about it? Besides, I'm worse off than they are – I only got to hit Flint."

"It's going to be hard making friends like this," she sighed.

"I have a friend," I blurted, wanting her to stop grousing about this.

"You do?" she asked, surprised.

Thanks, I thought. "Yeah," I told her.

"That's wonderful! Where does he live?"

"Close by," I replied vaguely.

"Well, what's his name?" she asked, eager.

"His name's Rudolph."

"We should have his parents over for dinner one night," she decided.

"I think they'd rather have you for dinner," I said before I could stop myself.

"Either way is fine," she said with a smile, but it quickly turned into a frown as she began sniffing the air. "There it is again, that smell."

"I don't smell anything," I said.

The lid of the toy chest was open slightly, slanted, I noticed. So he wasn't sleeping. "I can take care of this," I convinced my mum.

She nodded and closed the door the same time as the trunk closed softly. I hoped to God that Rudolph didn't hear any that, because I'd be so embarrassed if he did. Not that I cared about him, but what would happen if he seriously believed that we were best friends, and that I wanted to meet his parents? Thinking of Rudolph, the _vampire_ that was in my room at this very moment, I stiffened and immediately went into my bathroom, locking the door behind me. There was no way I'd take any chances with Rudolph still in my bedroom, especially since I knew that he was awake. It'd be stupid to even try to stay in there with all the blood dribbling out of my nose.

I cleaned myself up, flinching at my beaten appearance. I wished that I could get them back. If I weren't so damned weak, and if there weren't two of them on me at once, I would have loved to get them back. But, as there were two of them and only one of me – not to mention I'm not strong at all – I would have to refrain from getting revenge. Fantasies would have to do.

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

My dad brought me out to play golf with him, and I was very thankful. If I had stayed at home, then I would have had to say goodbye to Rudolph, but, as it was, we got home a half hour after sunset and Rudolph was long gone. Thank God. I ate dinner and headed back up to my room, planning on doing homework and brooding. "I hate this place," I whispered. I used to be a happy guy, but now...

"Tony—"

"You came back!" I gasped, turning toward the balcony where Rudolph stood by my desk.

He smiled at me, obviously thinking that I'd been upset to find him gone, but it fell quickly. "I only came back for this," he motioned, picking up a drawing of mine.

If I _had_ been attached, that line sure would have stung. As it was I felt kind of glad. All he wanted was the picture I'd drawn of the amulet. "You can have it," I assured him.

"Where did you see it?" he asked. "Tony, it's very important!"

"Keep it down, will you?" I asked. "My parents are here. I don't exactly want them finding out that there's a... well, that you're in my room. And I saw it in a dream."

"A dream? It must have been a nightmare," he stated.

"Uh, yeah," I said, scratching the back of my head, "I guess it was. But why's it so important?"

"I cannot tell you."

"Oh, well, that's fine," I assure him. It's not like I wanted to make your business mine anyhow, I added silently.

"It is the Stone of Attamon," he divulged quite suddenly. "It could mean the end of this curse."

"Curse?" I asked dumbly.

"The curse of being a vampire."

Don't say that word, I wanted to scream! It's not real! You're not real! Don't admit it! Don't acknowledge it! "Oh," I said instead.

"It was lost to our family three centuries ago, to the sea. My Uncle Von went after it, but we haven't seen him since," he continued. "The comet, do you see it?"

I looked at the moon, where he pointed and saw the same comet that had haunted my dreams. "Yeah."

"It is the Comet of the Lost Souls. When it reaches the moon, we will be able to use the stone to become human again. Without it, we will have to wait another three centuries before we can try once more."

"You, uh, you better find it then," I told him.

"Yes, we must find it. You said that you dreamt of it?" he asked.

I nodded, "Every night since I've been here." I shouldn't have said that, I thought.

"Every night?" he asked.

I nodded.

"Then you must come with me!"

Without further ado, he grabbed my hand and pulled me out onto the balcony. "Wait," I said," It's a school night. I have to go to school tomorrow."

"Tony, this is important. Don't you see? You have a sympathy for our kind – you are _meant_ to help us!"

I closed the balcony doors in resignation. Can one really say no to a vampire? If I even tried he'd probably eat me. Never mind the fact that he feasted on cows; humans were probably tastier, more tempting. He took my hand, lacing our fingers together in a way that seemed too intimate for my liking, and we flew up into the sky. I exhaled slowly, deciding that I could at least enjoy the flight. It might well be the last time I ever see the world, I told myself, because wherever he's taking me probably has a lot more vampires than just him, and all of them can't be as... friendly...

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

We landed in a graveyard, where he lived apparently, but before I could even fathom how normal that seemed, Rudolph shoved me aside and told me to hide, saying his parents were coming. I hid quickly behind a tombstone, watching the sky as four bats flew closer and transformed into... human-shaped vampires... as they touched the ground – but there were only three that I could see. Where did the other one go, I asked myself? "Mama, papa!" Rudolph called.

His mother lurched forward to wrap her arms around him and cried, "Rudolph! Thank the stars you're safe!"

"My son, you must never stray so far away again," his father ordered.

"We were afraid—" his mother began.

"I was only taking the road less travelled," he cut in.

"And you got lost," she finished.

"Yoo hoo!"

"Anna!" Rudolph rushed forward to hug his sister.

"Brother, darling! You're the nervy one, sneaking off like some day-walker," Anna scolded.

"I wish," Rudolph smirked before turning to his father. "Did you find the stone?"

"No," his father replied, "but I'm sure we're on the right track!"

"Because—" Rudolph began.

"We still have forty-eight hours," he continued.

"But you see, that's—" Rudolph tried once more.

"I will not fail you!" his father stated strongly.

"Gregory!" his mother called.

Suddenly an angry hiss sounded from behind me and I gasped. Another vampire stood there, the one that had been missing, and he snarled and crept toward me. I screamed and ran to Rudolph's side, assuming that, if anywhere, I'd be safe there. "A mortal?" his father sneered.

"He's my friend," Rudolph explained, holding his brother off.

"A victimizer, a slave, dinner perhaps, but never friend!" his father claimed.

"He's going to help us! He has dreams about us, don't you see?" Rudolph asked.

"Am I in your dreams, mortal?" Anna asked slyly.

I gulped and refused to answer, staring blankly at Rudolph's father. He was the head of the family; it was up to him to decide if I left this cemetery alive. "He knows about the amulet," Rudolph threw in.

"So he's a spy then, Rookery's knave!" his father snarled.

"Darling," Rudolph's mother came forward, lifting her husband's hand and bringing it to her mouth, "he doesn't look like a spy. Besides, not even Rudolph could come up with such tales, could you darling?"

Rudolph shook his head, trying to seem as innocent as possible. I thought that it just made him look guiltier, but it seemed to appease his father. "Mortal or not," the woman continued, "he's just a boy. But if you insist on eating him, then go ahead."

My eyes widened in fright, but returned to normal when I heard his father growl, "It's impossible. Leave, I say!"

"Er," I enunciated.

"He never should have befriended you in the first place! Leave, I say!" he shouted, lunging for me.

I yelped and ran away, stumbling off into the darkness. I didn't get anywhere fast though, because I kept tripping over gravestones in my blindness.

A loud thud graced our ears before they could say anything else, and we all turned to see a wooden stake fall to the ground beside a tombstone. Rookery! "Stay away from my family!" Rudolph's father sneered, opening his arms wide to hide his family from view as they escaped. "Do your worst!"

Is he a moron? You're a vampire, I wanted to scream, just fly away! I snuck into the shadows instead, slinking as quietly as I could toward the cord that powered the weird crossbow the vampire hunter was wielding. It kind of looked like a machine gun. I unplugged it and almost laughed as a stake fell softly to the ground. Rookery looked stupidly at his device before whipping out a glowing cross when Rudolph's father smirked and advanced. Rookery abruptly turned toward the cord, where he spotted me. He growled and turned back toward Rudolph's father, but the vampire was already gone. I gaped like a moron for a moment, bitterly realizing that I'd been left alone to deal with the hunter. Rookery turned back to me and started advancing with the cross. I frowned at him, knowing that it was not going to have any effect on me. "What sort of blood-sucker are you?" he asked.

"The human kind?" I asked, trying to smile at him.

He growled once more and continued walking toward me, holding what appeared to be a gun. I cursed and backed up, arms held high in the air. I struggled to make it up the hill without tripping only to feel the ground open up and swallow me. I let out a startled yelp and fell into darkness. Luckily (or unluckily, I'm not entirely certain) Rudolph got there fast enough to catch me. I felt his cold body press against mine, one of his arms around my back and the other dangerously close to my posterior. He looked up and noticed the gun held in Rookery's hand and quickly dragged me further into the crypt. Rookery took aim and shot downward, but while it only turned out to be a flare gun, it still hurt the family of vampires. Rudolph dropped me in his haste to duck behind a pillar and I fell awkwardly on my arm. I moaned a bit and rolled onto my back, wondering how the hell I would get out of here. "Tony!" Rudolph gasped, but he had to wait for the light to dim before falling to his knees beside me. "Are you hurt?"

"A little," I said, "but I'll be all right, really."

The loud rumble of Rookery's truck made us jump, but we sighed in relief as it became more distant. "I should take you home," Rudolph said.

"Yeah, thanks," I whispered, though it sounded loud in the silence.

Rudolph's family just stared at us as we flew out of the hole I had fallen through and into the sky. The flight back was quiet, and while I knew that the vampire was feeling guilty, I kept my silence and didn't bother telling him everything was all right, because, really, nothing was all right. I was involved in some weird vampire plot and would probably be killed at some point. "Your mama said that you were being harmed by some boys – the McAshton's, was it?" Rudolph randomly asked as we touched down on my balcony.

"It's nothing," I told him.

"It's not nothing if you come home bleeding," he said gently, his fingers lightly brushing my cheek.

I shivered and shook my head, "Just a bloody nose, that's all. Goodnight."

He frowned, looking out into the night, but wished me the same before jumping back into the sky. I locked the door behind him.

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

The next day dawned too early. My mum woke me for school, and all I could feel was dread. What would the McAshton boys do to me today? I was surprised to find that they would do quite a bit for me. I found them waiting at the gate, looking small and frightened. "Would you like us to hold your bag?" Nigel asked.

"Or we could do your homework," Flint added.

I looked at them like they were crazy and asked, "Aren't you supposed to be beating me up?"

They shook their heads furiously, "No! We're really sorry. We won't do it again! We promise – tell your friend we promised!"

"My friend?" I wondered.

They nodded again and answered in unison, "Your fiendish friend."

I blinked wide-eyed at them and it dawned on me what must have happened. Rudolph had asked me about them last night. Yesterday they had given me a bloody nose. Today they were trying to be as nice and helpful as they could possibly be. "I don't need anything," I said. "Just leave me alone."

"Of course," Nigel said.

"You won't even know we're here," Flint agreed.

I shook my head and went to class. Why would Rudolph visit them? And fiend – seriously? I needed to have a serious talk with him about unnecessary interference. Not that I wasn't greatful for the reprieve; my arm still hurt.

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

That night I waited up for him, but Rudolph never came. It was past midnight when I snuck out of the house and headed toward the graveyard they'd made into their home. Rudolph had better be there, I groused, or I _really_ wouldn't make it out there alive.

I found an opening in a mausoleum that led underground and followed the sound of an argument. Soon they stopped shouting and began screeching. I ran, stumbling down the illuminated path and spotting a very bright light hanging by a rope. Rudolph's dad stood facing the light with his cape wide open to protect his family. I wanted to tell him that he was stupid – he should have his back to the light, that way he'd have the protection his cape provided as well. I sufficed myself in finding a very sharp rock and throwing it as hard as I possibly could at the light. The rock broke the bulb and the light short-circuited. The family sighed in relief. "You barely saved my life," Rudolph's father said.

"Sorry?" I asked.

"We're very grateful," his mother smiled.

"Uh, yeah," I said, scratching my cheek, "you might want to find a new place to live. Rookery obviously knows you're here."

"We need somewhere dank, dark, and decay, somewhere the light of day will never find us," Rudolph's father said.

"Like a cellar or something," I added. "A graveyard's the first place a vampire hunter's going to look."

"Yes, of course," he glared.

"Lots of places here have cellars – we have one, even," I informed him.

"Yours?" Anna asked. "Oh, we would love to stay with you, Tony!"

I gaped. I didn't invite them! Rudolph clapped my shoulder and grinned happily at me. I couldn't tell them no, not now that they thought I'd invited them. You don't just say no to vampires. "We need to feed," Rudolph's mother said.

"I, uh, know where you can get some cows," I offered. In for a penny, in for a pound.

"Wonderful! Oh, yes, we haven't introduced ourselves, have we?" she asked as we made our way to the barn. "I am Freda Sackville-Bagg, this is my husband Fredrick, our oldest is Gregory, my daughter is Anna, and you of course already know Rudolph."

"I'm Tony Thompson," I introduced myself.

"Thank you for all that you have done for our family," she said sincerely.

After they fed on some cows, I led them to the cellar in the castle where I lived and bade them a good day's sleep. Just as I was settling in my bed, Anna came up and gave me a dead mouse. I tried not to get sick as she explained that it would bring me good luck and that if I was ever in trouble and needed her help, all I had to do was think of her and whistle. I thought it was strange, but I didn't comment. She said goodnight and left me to my sleep. I grimaced at the dead mouse in my hand. It smelled, and the handkerchief it was in smelled just as bad. They had probably worn the same clothes for over three hundred years, I realized. Did they bathe or wash their clothes? They'd better, I thought, because wearing one outfit for three hundred years is gross enough as it is.

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

The next day, a Saturday, my mother woke me up early and said that I was going in to work with my dad. When I asked her why, she said that my dad thought it was a good idea for me to get out of the house. I hated him in that moment. I did not want to go to the McAshton's house. That sounded like a bad idea. I didn't even get to ask Rudolph what he had done to the twins! What if our stories didn't match up and the brothers decided to get me back for a prank I didn't even pull?

The morning passed by slowly, full of anxiety and boring plans about building golf courses. I liked to golf, but I didn't want to learn about the thousandth Scottish golf course's design. I excused myself to use the bathroom and wandered about the castle trying to find it. I did, and thankfully I made it in time. When I walked out, I ran into some trouble.

"There!" Lord McAshton said, clearly terrified. "It is my ancestor Elizabeth! There was a ship that crashed onto the shore, though there'd been no storm. There was no captain, and no crew. Only one survivor."

"Von Sackville-Bagg," the hunter filled in.

"My grandfather told me the story and said it was to die with me," Lord McAshton finished.

"It could still happen," Rookery smirked.

I looked at the painting they were staring at and nearly screamed in frustration. It was Elizabeth McAshton, whoever that was, but around her neck hung the Stone of Attamon. Just my luck, I mused. "Where is she buried?" Rookery asked.

"I will show you," Lord McAshton told him as he began rushing off to the mausoleum.

I sighed in resignation. It would seem that I was off to stop the bad guy. I just hoped that he didn't have any weapons hidden on him, and that I didn't die. A stake to the heart would kill anyone.

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

Rookery kicked down the door and I was about to follow when two bodies collided with me. They screamed in fright and I screamed in surprise. We all fell silent at the same time. I needed them gone. "You're blocking the fiend's friend!" I proclaimed.

"We're sorry!"

"We didna mean to!"

"Crawl to your room, get under your bed, and stay there!" I ordered them.

"Yes Master!" they whimpered, falling to their knees and crawling toward the castle.

I stared in amazement. Just what the hell did Rudolph do to them? Doesn't matter, I reminded myself, I've got a job to do. Rid the world of vampires. Turn them human – or help them turn themselves human, rather. I crept into the mausoleum, listening as Rookery told the Lord that Elizabeth hadn't been buried there in centuries – if she'd been buried there at all. The railing I was leaning over creaked and bent. I lost my balance, tumbling into the open coffin. Lord McAshton yelped in fright and Rookery growled in anger, "It's one of them!"

"But that's the Thompson boy!" the Lord exclaimed in worry.

"I've seen 'em all together, slithering in the night," the hunter told the Lord while picking me up by the collar and shoving me further in the coffin, under the heavy lid. I gasped, trying to force myself out, but Rookery hit me hard in the head and I crumpled. He pulled the coffin closed, laughing sinisterly all the while. The two left, Rookery somehow convincing the Lord that they weren't murdering me. Oh God, I thought, I'm going to die. And it's not even the vampires that are doing the killing, it's the hunter! "Don't panic," I told myself. "There's a corner that's still open, so you're getting air."

I breathed in and out slowly, forcing myself to calm down and cease my panicking. Breathe in, hold it, count to three, and then let the air out. Once calm (or as calm as one can be when practically buried alive), I tried with all my might to open the coffin, but it was no use. I was weak. Just as I was about to give up hope, a mouse squeaked, poking its little whiskered nose inside, and I remembered Anna coming into my room the previous night. She'd said to whistle if I ever needed help. I thought of her, picturing her faded red dress, pale face, and her blonde locks. Anna. I blew out slowly. They would come, I told myself, they wouldn't abandon me after all I've done for them.

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

"Tony, where are you?" Rudolph called some time later.

"Here!" I yelled. "I'm in here!"

"Oh God," he breathed, footsteps getting louder as he approached the coffin. "Anna, help me!"

The two of them seemed to have no trouble at all getting the lid off, making me feel even more pathetic. I frowned as Rudolph tightly embraced me. His arms surrounded me and he held me close to his frigid corpse, breathing heavily into my ear, "I was so afraid when Anna told me you were in trouble."

"I'm fine," I said honestly, patting him gently on the back, wondering why my stomach felt suddenly so warm when the body pressed against me was so cold. "The McAshton's must have the amulet," I stuttered, remembering at once the important information I'd been privy to. "Lord McAshton and Rookery were in the house, and the Lord showed him a picture of some relative Elizabeth – she was wearing the stone! That's why I'm here, I followed them. This was where Elizabeth was supposed to be buried, but it's a fake. The stone must be wherever her grave is!"

"We'll never find it in time," Rudolph said, slowly pulling away from me. "The Comet meets the moon tonight. There could be hundreds of unmarked graves in Scotland, and we don't know which cemetery they used."

"Look!" Anna shouted. "The mouse, it wants to show us something!"

Before I could even contemplate how crazy she sounded, Anna grabbed a flashlight she said Rookery must have left behind and began following the mouse. Rudolph pulled me along behind them, gripping my hand softly in his. I felt my cheeks warm and wondered what the hell was wrong with me. My stomach felt tangled and I stumbled along behind the siblings. They stopped abruptly. "We can't go past," Rudolph said, squeezing my hand. "There must be a curse or something."

Curses, vampires, I was afraid to think of what else existed. I gulped and took the light from them, flashing it in the darkness ahead where I could see a fence of some sort. "There's a coffin!" I exclaimed.

"Oh, it must be Elizabeth!" Anna cried.

I swallowed once more and headed closer to the tomb. It was covered in chains, and I didn't have a key. I tugged uselessly on them, knowing that I would never be able to open the coffin. "I can't open it. We need a key," I informed them.

"Tony, get back!" Rudolph ordered, pointing at the ceiling.

I looked up and blinked when I saw the dirt begin to fall. Someone was digging! I tumbled back, falling into the fence and watching with wide eyes as the biggest drill I'd ever seen came through the roof, moving closer and closer to the lock that held the chains together. This had to be the strangest coincidence I've ever witnessed, I mused. The drill reached the coffin, and the chains quickly got stuck. Sparks flew and there was a crash as the drill stopped moving and the chains fell onto the coffin, broken. Anna and Rudolph were beside me in a moment, and I wondered how the hell they were there if a supposed curse had been holding them back. I looked back at the coffin and saw the remains of a Latin inscription. I guess that was it, then. Latin must be the language of magic. "Help us, Tony," they said.

Right. I tugged at the heavy chains and the three of us used all our strength to push the heavy lid off. "Uncle Von!" Rudolph yelled.

Anna gasped, looking at the man who lay beside Elizabeth and spouting something about how romantic it was. I gasped too, recognizing the man as the one who had leapt off the cliff and into the water after the amulet. I turned back to Elizabeth, grabbing the necklace that hung on her neck. There was no amulet. My eyes rolled into the back of my head and the last thing I heard before I was swept into another time was Rudolph shouting my name.

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

Elizabeth and Von were running from a large group of men holding torches. They were vampire hunters, I realized. Von shoved Elizabeth forward, toward an eerily familiar castle, while he turned to face the hunters, hissing menacingly and ready to fight 'til the death. An anguished expression crossed Elizabeth's face as she realized that Von was going to be killed, but she kept running. She ran up the stairs and into the first room she came across. The wooden planks creaked under her feet, one rising up under her weight. She grasped the amulet, eyes wide in understanding. She had to hide it, to protect it. She ripped it off her necklace and hid it inside a small beaded bag. (Where'd that come from, I wondered?) Pulling a board open, she hid it inside and quickly put the plank back in place. She turned back toward the door just as it burst open and a man ran in bearing a cross. She reeled back in pain, gasping and crying out, knowing that this was the end.

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

"Tony! Tony, are you alright?"

"It's in my bedroom!" I realized. "The Stone of Attamon is at my house – that's why I've been having all those dreams!"

The three of us glanced at each other before running back the way we came, feeling a heavy burden in our hearts. "Anna, go to the cliffs," Rudolph commanded, "and tell them that we'll be on our way as soon as we get the Stone. Hurry!"

Anna nodded and jumped into the air, transforming into a bat and quickly flying away. Rudolph gripped my hand tightly and we rushed into the sky after her, zooming toward my house.

We made it there in record time, but Rudolph turned to me and told me to begin the search while he went to lock the doors. I put the dead mouse that Anna had given me into my pocket, wanting all the luck I could get, and then I picked up the fire poker and began prying planks up. My parents were going to kill me when they realized how much damage I'd done to my room, I thought resignedly. Rudolph came back into my room and pushed my wardrobe in front of the locked door. "That should hold him off for a while," he panted before falling next to me and joining the search.

We'd ripped ten planks out by the time we found it, and Rookery was pounding on my bedroom door with what sounded like a hammer. We glanced at each other in a panic and turned toward the balcony just as Rookery broke out of my wardrobe. He shoved a cross in Rudolph's face and I watched in horrid fascination as the vampire fled into the fireplace, feeling a sort of déjà-vu. "Hand me the amulet!" Rookery ordered.

"No!" I yelled, trying to appear braver than I felt.

"Give it to me now, or you'll be sorry," he warned, shoving the cross in my face.

"I'm not a vampire, you idiot!" I sneered.

"Fine," he snarled before yanking me by the arm toward the balcony.

My eyes widened and I struggled to escape, but he just held on to me tighter. He tugged at something with his teeth and threw it down onto the grass, where a small mattress inflated. I screamed as he jumped off the balcony, holding me tight enough to bruise. I felt tears prickle my vision but held them back as he opened the driver's door to this truck and threw me in violently. My head smashed into the passenger's window and I moaned in pain, watching the world come in and out of darkness. "Now give me the Stone, and you won't have to get hurt," he told me.

"I'm already hurt," I informed him.

He growled savagely and slammed on the gas while shoving his hand into the pockets on my clothes. I whimpered when he took the stone from me and tried to yank it back, but he punched me soundly in the jaw and told me to shut up. I held my sore jaw and wondered what the hell I was doing in this mess in the first place. Rudolph just fell into my life three days ago, and now look at what's happened. "What the—?" Rookery wondered.

I looked out the windshield and saw flying cows. I blinked away my tears and rubbed my eyes, but they were still there – and so was Rudolph, flying in the centrefold. "You looking for this?" Rookery cackled, holding up the amulet before slamming it onto the dash. "Well come and get it!"

He pressed one of the hundreds of buttons in his truck and it turned on a light. Rudolph and the cows floated out of its reach. Rookery flicked on as many lights as he possibly could while driving forward, wanting to put some distance between himself and his enemies. The cows flew forward and Rookery screamed as his truck was assaulted with manure. While he was distracted, I grabbed the bag that held the amulet and quickly switched Anna's lucky rat with the Stone of Attamon. Anna wouldn't mind, I thought. Rookery caught me with the bag in my hand and snarled, "Oh no you don't!"

He took it back, slapping me in the process. My head felt rather light, and I couldn't really enjoy the victory. "Tony, the lights!" Rudolph shouted from somewhere above me.

I looked at the dashboard and began flicking off as many switches as I could get my hands on. The vampire hunter would have none of it, and it began a power struggle. I would flick a switch off, and he would try to put it back on. Eventually he resorted to violence and pushed me off to the side. But before he could turn them back on, Rudolph shouted at me once more, "Tony!"

I looked up and saw Rudolph, his hand extended right above my head. He held onto the truck tightly, flying above us and looking at me with urgency. I grabbed it without second thought and we sailed out of the open sunroof, watching with unhidden glee as the hunter screamed when he realized that his truck was sailing off the cliff and into the sea. It reminded me a bit of Von. "Going, going, gone," I whispered.

"At least you're safe, Tony," Rudolph said, squeezing my hand and rubbing along my arm with the other.

I shivered, but reached into my pocket and forced a grin, singing, "Oh Rudolph, look what I have."

"The Stone! Tony, you've done it!" he yelled, hugging me tightly and kissing me hard on the lips.

I froze while he pulled away quickly, looking at me nervously. His lips were cold, as I'd expected, but they were soft and caressing. His breath ghosted over my face, somehow feeling different than the cold air that pulled at our clothes, and a shiver crawled up my spine, ending in my parted lips. He... never mind, I thought, he'll be human again soon and then I'll go home and forget all about this. Mum and dad won't even have to know. I smiled at him, "Let's go save your family."

He returned my smile and before I knew it we were shouting in glee while the wind whistled in our ears and we made our way up the coast, toward the spot where his family was waiting. "There!" I heard Anna direct.

"Oh my God!"

Oh shit, I thought, those are my parents. The worse thing wasn't that I was about to land in a vampire pit; it was that my parents had found out about this whole mess. Ridiculous! How could they? "We have the stone, papa!" Rudolph shouted.

The group of vampires shouted with glee as we landed and handed the amulet to Frederick. "Thank you, my friend," he said to me sincerely.

"N-no problem," I stuttered before turning toward my parents and rushing over to them.

They gaped at me for a minute before hugging me fiercely, mumbling about how crazy this all was and how glad they were that I was safe. We turned toward Frederick when he began the ceremony. As he did in my dream, he spoke clearly to the moon, "Ab ovo in toto nil desperandum sine die!"

The beam of light came down from the moon, meeting the amulet. It drew back to the moon sharply, as a large object got in the way. "Hey, that's my blimp!" my dad grumbled.

Rookery held onto a cord that was connected to the blimp and grinned manically, bearing the glowing cross that was now covered with seaweed. Gross. He kicked the Stone of Attamon out of Frederick's hands and rushed forward, shoving the cross toward the vampires. He caught the Stone (how did he get there?) and laughed, screaming about sending the vampires all to hell. My dad said something about having had enough and threw the apron he was wearing into my hands before walking forward and punching Rookery in the face. He shook his fist in pain after he'd done it, but he looked immensely satisfied. My mum followed directly behind, hitting the crazy hunter in the gut and in the jaw. The Stone flew out of his hands and I ran forward to catch it, watching with silent awe as my dad shoved the vampire hunter off the cliff without regret. "The ceremony!" Frederick shouted.

The vampires all turned to me, glaring with red eyes and daring me to try anything funny. "Tony, you know what we want!" Rudolph yelled. "Wish it! You have to wish it - now!"

Right. I held the stone above my head, closed my eyes and thought with all my might that I wished for all the vampires to be human again. Make them human, I thought, human, human, human!

The beam of light came down from the moon again and I shook with the force. I really thought I would drop the Stone, but I couldn't! They'd eat me if I lost them the only chance they had to become human for the next three hundred years. Human, human, human, make them human, give them their lives back!

I opened my eyes and watched as fog crept up the cliffs and surrounded the vampires. One by one they were taken, vanishing into the mist. Finally, my eyes met Rudolph's and he gave me a bittersweet smile full of longing before being swallowed up as well. The mist became red and joined the beam of light that connected the Stone in my hand with the moon. The light pulled away from the amulet and I had to lean backwards to keep myself from being dragged along with them. The tug ceased and the red light sped back to the moon, flashing brightly for a moment before disappearing without a trace.

The full moon looked as it always had. I ran to the edge of the cliff, wondering if they had simply passed on. They were hundreds of years old, after all, so it would make sense if they went to live in the next life. I held a hand to my chest and wondered at how cold and empty I felt. Rudolph hadn't really been my friend, I told myself, I didn't know him very well at all. "What'd you wish for?" my dad asked.

I stared at the moon and didn't reply, leaning into the comforting hands of my parents. Both of them thought that Rudolph had been my friend – my only friend, my best friend. I didn't want to tell them otherwise.

The car ride home was silent, and my mum told me that I didn't have to go to school in the morning if I didn't feel up to it. I nodded in ascent and bade them goodnight before retiring to my room. I spent the entire night awake on the balcony, staring at the sky. I watched the moon set, the stars fade, and the sun rise. It was only when the sun was beaming brightly and illuminating the land that I finally fell into a fitful sleep on my empty bed.

OOOOOoooooOOOOO

It was a year later, a couple of weeks before I was to enter my third year of high school, when it happened. I went with my parents into the marketplace because they were complaining about my lack of leaving the house. I still hadn't made any friends in school; I was just glad the McAshton boys still left me alone. They didn't even look at me.

We were in the marketplace when I spotted something funny. The manor that stood on the outskirts of the outdoor flea market had a large sign on its property declaring that it was sold. The strange thing wasn't that somebody bought the manor, but it was the two teenagers I spotted exiting the moving truck with suitcases in hand. Unable to stop myself, I walked forward, calling out, "Hey!"

They turned, looked at me funny and turned back to their things.

"It's me," I called again," Tony!"

The boy glared at me, tugging on his sister's arm. She shoved away from him to grab her suitcase, but followed after him. I stared, aghast. Did they not remember me? I still dreamt of them! Well, mostly of Rudolph... not that it mattered! I pursed my lips together and in a last ditch effort I blew. My whistle was loud; I'd been subconsciously whistling all year while thinking of them, wondering if they could hear me. The two finally turned back to me, squinted expressions on their faces. Rudolph's eyes suddenly widened and he took a step forward, his arm reaching out toward me. I smiled nervously and began walking forward. The siblings glanced at each other and rushed over to me, staring with wide eyes. "Tony, you said?" Rudolph asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"Why are you so familiar?" he asked.

My heart plummeted, but I asked nonetheless, "You don't remember?"

"Tony Thompson! – but where are your glasses?" he asked.

My eyes widened before I quietly replied, "I got contacts."

Anna grinned, nudging her brother and lifting her eyebrows. Rudolph scowled. "We've moved to the right place," she said mysteriously.

I looked at her quizzically, but shrugged it off and smiled awkwardly at the two of them. I spotted their parents and stared unblinkingly, noting how very different they all looked when human. "You all look so different," I said, needing to break the silence.

"Of course we do," Rudolph said. "We're alive."

We all shared a quick smile before our parents reached us, formally introducing themselves. My parents offered to have the whole family over for dinner, and the Sackville-Baggs accepted. I swallowed heavily when I saw the way Rudolph was looking at me. Seeing that our parents were distracted, and his siblings kept making weird gestures to him, he took me aside and asked, "Do you still dream of us?"

I noticed that his cheeks were tinged pink and realized that he'd never blushed once when I knew him as a vampire. He'd been so pale. I nodded mutely. He smiled shyly, giving me a glimpse of his perfectly normal sized canines. "I can't sleep when the moon's full," I stupidly admitted.

He stared at me blankly for a moment before his face turned an even brighter shade of red. "I thought they were just dreams," he told me. "It didn't matter that they followed a pattern, or that they happened in linear fashion – they were just dreams, for the first little while."

"What?" I asked, wondering what he was talking about.

"Then we met one night," he continued, "and you were so familiar. I'd wake up, wondering where you were, if I would visit you that night, or if you would come see me...

"It wasn't until Anna crept into my room after having similar nightmares of a past life that we realized they weren't just dreams; they were memories. All of us, my parents, my brother, Anna, we all dreamt of the same life," he paused before continuing in a pained whisper, "but I couldn't remember your name, none of us could."

"I thought you were all dead," I said quietly. "The way you disappeared like that; there was no way you'd be alive – at least not in this world."

"We found you, though," Rudolph smiled. "It's taken a year, but we finally found you."

I blinked and asked, "You were looking for me?"

"Of course we were!" Anna said indignantly, creeping up behind us and making us jump. "You're the one that saved us, that made this life possible. How could we not want to thank you?" she demanded.

"Well, I just thought that you'd want to get on with your lives, forget all about this—"

"I won't!" Rudolph said passionately, firmly taking hold of my arm.

"We might have been looking for you," Anna confessed, "but we really wanted to come back to Scotland too. There are many fond memories for us here."

"Oh," I murmured.

Anna rolled her eyes and gave her brother a scathing look before returning to where our parents and Gregory were conversing. We were silent for a while before Rudolph blurted, "_I_ came back for you."

I smiled softly at him and took his hand in mine, linking out fingers, and looked at the sky before asking, "Do you miss it?"

"Flying was nice," he grinned, squeezing my hand with familiarity, "but being able to see you in the sunlight is better. Your hair looks like it's spun of gold, and your skin is glowing."

"You have freckles," I retorted, "and you blush."

His face went red and he nudged me, glaring slightly. He became serious a moment later, questioning, "Did you actually like me, or were you just...?"

I swallowed heavily. He'd just asked the question that had been haunting me every night since he'd gone. "I don't know," I replied honestly. "I was always so afraid, and it happened so fast that I couldn't really understand everything until it was over."

He looked sad, but nodded in understanding, his grip loosening. "It was only four days that we'd known each other. It's just... the times I was with you..." he cleared his throat, "those are when my dreams are most vivid, when I was happiest."

I sighed, looking at my shoes and feeling the heat rise in my cheeks, and mumbled, "I missed you, though. It went by so fast that I didn't realize how much you meant to me until you were gone, and by then it was too late."

"It's not too late now," he grinned.

I returned the smile before a question that had been nagging me tumbled out of my mouth, "Where did you go? You all just vanished in the fog; you were taken by the comet. I thought you'd all just turn human on the spot, but you didn't."

"We wound up back in the old country," he explained. "We woke up with different memories, memories of living in this century. That's why we thought they were just dreams. I can't imagine not knowing how to play Nintendo, but during the night I sometimes forget. Everything becomes strange then. We lived in the same manor as before, but the furniture was newer, our clothes were modern – Anna even has trousers in her closet!"

I snickered at how aghast he seemed that his sister could wear pants as well as he could. "So then all this stuff is yours?" I asked, motioning to the moving truck.

He nodded and went on, "Everything. I've even got a computer!"

"That must have been one powerful amulet," I realized aloud, "if it could give you a life in the present and give everyone false memories to make that life possible."

He snapped to attention and demanded, "Do you still have it? Is that why you and your parents can remember us, but we only see you in our dreams?"

I shrugged, "It's possible; maybe I wished it unknowingly. The – the amulet's gone though. I'm not sure what happened to it. I stayed up the whole night after you'd vanished and went to sleep after the sun rose, but when I woke up it was gone."

"Do you think Rookery...?"

I shook my head and explained, "He's in prison. Lord McAshton called the cops that night and he's been in a cell ever since."

"Then what could have happened to it?" he asked worriedly.

I smiled at him and assured, "I don't think it's in the wrong hands. I don't think it's in anyone's hands. When I made the wish, the moon tried to draw the amulet in with me. I stopped it, obviously, – I'd hate to know what would have happened to me if _I'd_ gone into the comet – but I think it got absorbed anyway."

He looked at me like I was crazy, talking of stones being absorbed by the moon from Earth. I clawed my hands and hissed, making my point. He rolled his eyes in ascent, "I know. Ex-vampire, who am I to say that the moon can't absorb amulets _and_ vampires?"

We laughed to ourselves, but were soon called back by our parents. Mine were through with shopping and Rudolph's wanted to finish unloading the truck before nightfall. We smiled fondly at that, squeezed hands one last time, and bade each other farewell.

Tonight was the night of the full moon, but I knew that I would sleep well and greet the sun in the morning when I awoke. It's a great day to be human, I thought happily.


End file.
